The Urban Horizons Apartments

Building Beautiful Homes and Sustainable Development

WHEDCo believes:

              • All families deserve a healthy and safe home.
              • Living somewhere beautiful can have a profound impact on a family’s mental and physical health.

In 1997, WHEDCo opened Urban Horizons, an elegant Italian Renaissance building that was born from reclaiming, renovating, and transforming the long-abandoned Morrisania Hospital complex. Urban Horizons is home to 132 families, 48 of whom arrived directly from the shelter system.

Urban Horizon’s architecturally stunning apartments provide a pride of place and a respite from the daily struggles of poverty. The beautifully restored building restores the lost grandeur of the Bronx and benefits the entire neighborhood.

Features such as wall sconces, high ceilings, and decorative flooring patterns add character. Indirect and natural lighting, pilasters and chair rails in the corridors, and reconstruction of the vaulted entry loggia lend dignity to the public spaces. Design features such as solid hardwood cabinets and tile backsplashes in the kitchens contribute warmth and quality to the apartments. They also reduce maintenance costs. Attractive pendant lights, garden statuary, and the fully restored terracotta detailing, cornices, and window arches give the building a stature that is unique among community development initiatives.WHEDCo’s standards are based on the belief that positive environments help children grow up to be smarter and more emotionally stable. In essence, healthy neighborhoods grow healthy minds.

Since opening in May 1997, Urban Horizons has been fully rented, and has earned numerous awards including:

  • The Municipal Art Society's Livable Cities Award (1996)
  • The Fannie Mae Foundation's Maxwell Award for Excellence for the Production of Low-Income Housing (1998)
  • The HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award from the American Planning Association (2000).

The building was also featured in "Bronx by Design: High-End Architecture Inspires Low-Income Home-Making," a 2004 photo exhibit at the National Arts Club, and a cover feature in Shelterforce Magazine (Spring 2004) entitled "Beauty in the Bronx."